From prepping for a post-apocalyptic-zombie-infested world to battling to educate the next generation in Japanese Language, Sensei Shawn Beatty knows how to survive and thrive.

“If zombies operate the way we think they do, guns are dumb,” Beatty said.

First and foremost, though, Sensei Beatty’s love for Japan shines through. He grew up in the quaint little town of Marion, Iowa, but as a teen, he took trips to Japan, first with the Experiment in International Living, but eventually, he became an exchange student over the summer after his freshman year. That’s when he really got engrossed in Japanese culture. 

“It’s a very polite culture. I wouldn’t say we’re not polite here, but I think it’s different; we’ve moved on. I would say Japan is more or less a group culture, and so they’re trying to be more individualistic as we speak. Like, that’s the crux, like dirt; we are toxically individual,” Beatty said.

While he was in Japan, the Sensei fell in love with the language; he majored in Asian language literature.

“What do you do with that [Asian language and literature]? …what? Tell me! What do you do with that? Because I don’t know what I was going to do with that. I just wanted to learn Japanese. There was no , I’m going to do library science or I’m going to be a teacher. It worked out; I’m teaching now. It doesn’t work out for most people, though; I kind of just fell into it.” Beatty said

Sensei started teaching English in Japan, and eventually, when he came back to the USA, he landed a few different jobs teaching Japanese. He finally ended up in Columbia in 2012, though and has become a favorite among his students. 

“He’s very, kind of in your face, you have to participate in class; that’s not an option. I think it’s a fun way of owning a class, and it makes you really learn,” four-year Japanese student Phoenix Ribiat (12) said.

Sensei reconnected with another love from his time in Japan: zombies. In Iowa,

“Zombies are the everyman monster,” Beatty said in an interview with the Iowa-based news organization The Gazette. 

Sensei shared the love for Zombies in events he led such as the Iowa City zombie march.

“I just thought about trying to do one [zombie march] down here [in Columbia]. But it’s a lot of work to set up. I never got proper insurance when I did my march, because we obeyed traffic laws, which is funny. You see at a red light, half the Horde stops and waits.” Beatty said

Sensei’s obsession with the not-so-living picked up with a phone call from the Discovery Channel.

“A former coworker of mine in Wisconsin, who had moved to Minnesota, heard something on the radio about them looking for zombie preppers. She passed on the information to me, so I contacted them, and they called me from England, and then there were a couple of interviews, like, yeah, you’re one of our guys. So I ended up on a Discovery Channel show, literally, how it came out.” Beatty said.

The show, entitled, Zombie Apocalypse, portrays Beatty as one member of a small group of real life zombie preppers.

“[The show] talks about survival, like it’s more of a mental issue, like, if zombies operate the way we think they do, guns are dumb. Think about it. If you shoot a gun, the noise is here. So everyone turns towards you. A crossbow makes minimal noise. And if you miss, you hit over there, and they’ll turn that way. And I found out during the filming that they make explosive tip crossbow bolts. That’s actually thing you can buy. So if you shoot a crossbow over there and it misses and blows up over that they’ll turn that way and go that way,” Beatty said.

Zombies aside, Sensei’s students have come to appreciate his playful personality.

“I like how eccentric he is. I think he’s very energetic, and he’s just a fun guy to be around,” Kai-Mei Nolen (10) said.

Sensei has kept his passion for zombies alive at Hickman as the club sponsor of the Zombie Defense League. More important than the zombies though, Sensei has kept a big space in his heart for being accepting and open.

“I’ll do anything once. I will not shy away from an experience, well, I guess maybe not bungee jumping a second time, because that was terrifying the first time.”